Best Use of Boobies and Philosophy in an Anime- Space Dandy

When I first heard about Space Dandy it sounded a lot like Cowboy Bebop, which is my favorite anime series, so I was all for it. To be honest, Shinichiro Watanabe could make an anime that was just a black screen for twelve episodes I would praise the animation and character development. However, when I saw the first episode of Dandy I thought it was ridiculous. Like really ridiculous. And so was the next one and the one after that… “Well, this isn’t very “Bebopy.” I thought to myself. I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Which made me start to lose faith in Watanabe. Which made me question what was even real. Which made me fall into an existential crisis. But then that crisis was averted when I realized I had to stop expecting Space Dandy to be something it wasn’t. Once that happened, everything changed. By the time the series ended, I loved Dandy just as much as he loves Boobies. (Which is a lot.) When watching SpaceDandy, you just have to lose all expectations, relax and enjoy the ride, baby.

Best Reason to Call Out of Work- Bayonetta 2

My love for Inio Asano grows every time I read one of his messed up coming-of-age stories and Nijigahara Holograph was no different. I dedicated blog posts to Solanin and Nijigahara Holograph because they are that good and I’ll probably do the same for Oyasumi Punpun, which I just finished reading. Asano-sensei is a brilliant storyteller, artist and one of my favorite mangakas. Despite the strangeness and disturbing quality to his stories, there is a unique beauty to them as well. His brutal honesty about humanity forces us to confront things we’re too scared to address. His manga tell us more about ourselves than we may be comfortable with, and with that, he creates a story so beautiful it’s unnerving.

I’m a sucker for a shoujo romance love triangle, but throw a sensei up in that triangle and I. CAN’T. EVEN.

Smartest Hour On Sunday- True Detective

Since time is a flat circle, I can’t wait until my consciousness inevitability experiences True Detective again for the first time.

Best Cowboy in Space Movie- Interstellar

I was personally offended when I heard some people didn’t like this movie.

The Comic That Was So Good It Was Perfect- Saga story by Brian K. Vaughan and art by Fiona Staples

DUH.

Coolest World You Really Like But Don’t Want to Live in Because It’s Pretty Messed Up– East of West story by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Nick Dragotta

This was a way for me to dedicate a category to East of West because it’s too good not to mention. Seriously, you should be reading this.

Best Eyegasm- J.H. Williams III for Sandman Overture story by Neil Gaiman

So the real reason Sandman Overture comes out every leap year isn’t because of the creators busy schedules, it’s because if JHW3 releases Sandman Overture art once a month it will literally rip a hole in time and space and the universe will collapse in on itself.

Best Reason to Judge a Comic Book by Its Cover- The Wicked + The Divine written by Kieron Gillen and drawn by Jamie McKelvie

When you first see the cover for WicDiv you’re all like, “Oooh shiny!” So you buy it because you like pretty things and figure if the story is terrible at least it’s pretty to look at. And then you realize you’re a really shallow person and get depressed. To distract yourself from this distressing realization you read WicDiv and everything about it is super cool and yet surprisingly smart. Then you stop feeling sad and shallow and pretend that you didn’t just buy the comic for the pretty cover, you bought it for the smart story. I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine.

Best Comic to Read in Public Places- Sex Criminals written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Chip Zdarsky

Fraction and Zdarsky prove as long as your comic is great, you can make as many sex jokes as you want.

The Comic That Will Take Over 2015- Bitch Planet written by Kelly Sue DeConnick and art by Valentine De Landro

Feminism means equal rights for all women, but more often than not, the fight for equality is separated between white women and women of color *cough cough* “separate but equal”. Bitch Planet is a punch in the face to patriarchy and I’m so damn happy that all women are included. Thank you Kelly Sue and Valentine!